October 2, 2019 NATIONAL ASSEMBLY DEBATES 1 NATIONAL ASSEMBLY OFFICIAL REPORT Wednesday, 2nd October 2019 The House met at 9.30 a.m. [The Deputy Speaker (Hon. Moses Cheboi) in the Chair] PRAYERS QUORUM Hon. Deputy Speaker: Hon. Members, we are short of the required quorum. I, therefore, order that the bell be rung for 10 minutes. (Quorum Bell was rung) Order, Hon. Members! We now have the required quorum. Therefore, business will begin. PETITIONS Hon. Deputy Speaker: Hon. Members, we have two petitions, one by Hon. Doye Nakuleu and the other one by Hon. Caleb Hamisi. We will start with the one of Hon. Nakuleu. Hon. Kubai, you are on intervention. What is it? Hon. Kubai Iringo (Igembe Central, JP): Thank you, Hon. Deputy Speaker. In as much as work in this august House was made light by these systems, they are usually not up to date. As we are talking, there is no Order Paper in the system. Hon. Deputy Speaker: Well, that is one thing we have also noticed from this end. It will be uploaded shortly. Actually, it should be there now. However, that is to say that Hon. Kubai is a diligent Member. He is techno-savvy. If you check your gadgets, I am sure it is there. If not, it will be there shortly. As I had said, we will start with the Petition by Hon. Nakuleu. RECRUITMENT OF TEACHERS IN TURKANA COUNTY BY TSC Hon. Christopher Nakuleu (Turkana North, JP): Thank you, Hon. Deputy Speaker. I beg to present a Petition regarding the recruitment of teachers in Turkana County by the Teachers Service Commission (TSC). I, the undersigned, on behalf of residents of Turkana County, draw the attention of the House to the following: Disclaimer: The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposes only. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor. October 2, 2019 NATIONAL ASSEMBLY DEBATES 2 THAT, the county is classified as arid and semi-arid land (ASAL) and it is among the poorest counties in Kenya with approximately 90 per cent of the population living below a dollar a day. THAT, the county has high illiteracy levels which stands at 82 per cent, according to the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation(UNESCO). THAT, the teacher to student ratio in public schools within the County is about 1 to 100, which is lower than the recommended Ministry of Education ratio of 1 to 45. THAT, a majority of teachers in Turkana County are non-locals, whose families reside outside the county. THAT, following the conclusion of the required five years that the Teachers Service Commission and the Ministry of Education stipulate for a teacher to serve in a particular station, most non-local teachers normally apply for transfers to their home counties. THAT, on account of this trend, the county has ended up simply serving as a temporary station that teachers use to secure employment, after which they depart to greener pastures in other counties thereby causing serious staffing challenges in Turkana County. THAT, the situation is further aggravated by the harsh conditions and typical hardships prevailing in the area, which the non-locals find extremely different to adapt to. THAT, the TSC has in the recent past carried out recruitment of teachers in Turkana County without cognisance of the actual realities on the ground, local interests and affirmative action stipulated in the Constitution. THAT, TSC does not recognise Turkana as a marginalised county and thus makes inaccurate, misleading and regressive assumptions that the county education status and requirements are similar to those of other counties. THAT, a report by the National Cohesion and Integration Commission (NCIC) revealed that members of Turkana County constitute less than 1 per cent of the public service, with the Commission recommending equitable representation of Kenyan communities in the public service. THAT, a substantial proportion of teachers hailing from Turkana County, who complete education is not able to compete with their peers from other counties who complete the training earlier than them. This is oddly enough a criterion that TSC adopted to the detriment of local teachers and which leads to acute and perpetual teacher shortage in the county. THAT, efforts by teachers in Turkana County to have this critical issue addressed have been futile, and THAT, issues in respect of which this Petition is made are not pending before any court of law or any other constitutional or legal body. Therefore, your humble Petitioners pray that the National Assembly, through the Departmental Committee on Education and Research— (i) inquire into TSC’s staffing policy in Turkana County, with a view of proposing affirmative action in the recruitment of teachers in Turkana, giving the local residents priority in the recruitment. (ii) engage TSC with a view of recommending compliance by TSC to the conventional ratio of 70 to 30 per cent teacher recruitment ratio for locals vis-à-vis non-locals. (iii) cause TSC to issue a special waiver to enable recruitment of graduates from Turkana County into the TSC fraternity irrespective of the year of graduation. Thank you, Hon. Deputy Speaker. Disclaimer: The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposes only. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor. October 2, 2019 NATIONAL ASSEMBLY DEBATES 3 Hon. Deputy Speaker: There seems to be some interest. I will give opportunity to two members to have a take. There are six Members who have placed requests. Let us hear Hon. Omboko Milemba. Hon. Omboko Milemba (Emuhaya, ANC): Thank you, Hon. Deputy Speaker. At the outset, let me support that petition by the Member and tell Parliament that there are two things that are happening continuously and which will lord it over us in future. It is not only Turkana County that lacks teachers and the mode of employment being disturbing. There are two things. One, despite the fact that education is supposed to be free and compulsory, the government has not provided enough schools, especially in the City of Nairobi. So, education is mostly being handled by private school owners. Two, because I know I have to be very brief, schools in Kenya do not have teachers. Most of the teachers are employed by parents using payments from those particular parents. If that trend is allowed to continue, we will end up privatising two things: both the schools and teacher employment. That is dangerous. Therefore, I want to support the Petition. I would wish that it is looked into very seriously. Thank you. Hon. Deputy Speaker: Hon. Hassan Maalim, you have the Floor. Hon. Kulow Maalim (Banissa, EFP): Thank you, Hon. Deputy Speaker. At the outset, I wish to support the Petition by the Member. It is not only Turkana but all marginalised areas have a serious problem in terms of recruitment of teachers. We remember the former Cabinet Secretary for Education, Madam Amina, had come up with a strategy paper, a formula that could have supported marginalised areas in terms of recruitment of teachers, but it was politicised. That exercise never took place. It is to the detriment of marginalised areas. Eleven counties in this country have serious problems in terms of the teaching fraternity. It is high time the Ministry of Education came up with a strategy, a policy, a plan together with TSC, which is a real problem to the marginalised areas. The TSC has all along been neglecting areas like Turkana, Mandera, Wajir – the 11 counties that I have mentioned. Hon. Deputy Speaker: Please, do not debate. You will have your take if you go to the Committee when the Petition will be heard. I am just giving you opportunity to make one comment, so that I can give opportunity to at least two other Members. So do not debate. Hon. Kulow Maalim (Banissa, EFP): Therefore, Hon. Deputy Speaker, I support the Petition and ask the TSC to take care of the plight of the 11 marginalised counties in this country. I thank you. Hon. Deputy Speaker: Let us now hear Hon. Sossion. No debate please. Hon. Wilson Sossion (Nominated, ODM): Thank you, Hon. Deputy Speaker. I wish to thank the Petitioner for that timely Petition. What we are talking about here is a structured policy on teacher training and recruitment. This country has a constitutional commission that is given the mandate to access sufficient funding from the Consolidated Fund and so we should not have children without teachers for whatever reason. This country has got over 300,000 teachers who are trained and unemployed. Therefore, it should be a matter of urgency for the Government to reorganise itself, through the TSC, and ensure that teachers are adequately supplied and available in every classroom to deliver teaching to every child. I support the Petition. Hon. Deputy Speaker: The Member for Tiaty, you have the Floor. Hon. Kassait Kamket (Tiaty, KANU): Thank you, Hon. Deputy Speaker. It is very rare for me to agree with the Member for Turkana North but on this occasion, I fully agree with him Disclaimer: The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposes only. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor. October 2, 2019 NATIONAL ASSEMBLY DEBATES 4 and support this Petition. Those of us who come from pastoralist communities have really suffered in the manner in which teachers are recruited in this country. You find, for example, in Tiaty Constituency we are one of the least staffed in terms of teacher placement, both in primary and secondary schools.